


A Night With True Friends

by Samicable



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bar Fight, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character killed offscreen, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Serial Escalation, Urban Setting, night out, second love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:27:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26706727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samicable/pseuds/Samicable
Summary: Professor Byleth, Ignatz's crush and teacher, was recently killed. So will a night out with his friends Leonie and Raphael make or break him, and what happens when he starts to build up feelings for another?
Relationships: Leonie Pinelli/Ignatz Victor
Kudos: 1





	1. Newborn Despair

**Author's Note:**

> This fic still takes place in Fodlan but in more modern times (think about 2019, the year FETH was released). Existing cities are more modern, recreation is more advanced, and the like, primarily because the plot would be more fun to write for me.
> 
> I chose the commoners of the Golden Deer because they have so few fics in comparison to the other students and I wanted to help correct that.
> 
> There will be more triggering events as the fic goes on, so it's rated M for later. Don't say I didn't warn you.
> 
> I hope you like my first work.

He never seemed like this before.

Ignatz Victor wasn't the happiest person in the world, or even in Garreg Mach Boarding School (that honor would probably go to Annette Fantine Dominic, though she wasn't really his classmate). However, he was never too far from happiness, especially when he was with his friends. That all changed when he woke up one day and heard from another student who knocked at his door that the school's only teacher, Professor Byleth Eisner, was found dead in the bustling city of Enbarr. Enbarr was always home to criminals, so finding dead victims of crime was normal there, but it was the otherwise powerful professor who was teaching Ignatz who was that night's victim. Ignatz could hardly believe it. Neither could anybody else, it seemed, as, in the wake of her death, school was canceled and everyone was sent home. It seemed as if the friends Ignatz made that year would never see him again.

Thoughts that ran through his head included, but weren't limited to, "Why?", "How?", and "What next?" as he sat down at the Ares' Diner in Deirdru. It was a sunny afternoon, for sure, and so everyone else was happy. Not Ignatz, as evident by his hands cupping his head as he leaned on his elbows, putting pressure on his table, which he wasn't sharing with anyone. His green sweater and jeans were only beginning to get sweaty from stress and it seemed he was only going to go deeper into what he thought was depression. Even the electro swing music on the radio wasn't enough to cheer him up, and he had just developed a soft spot for music after his class visited Mittelfrank Records, which employed his also-classmate-but-not-really Dorothea. Ignatz felt like he was going to be like this for a while. That is, until two familiar faces from Garreg Mach Boarding School walked into the diner.

One of them was a girl a few years older than him with short, orange hair, an orange hoodie with pockets on the front, blue jeans, a wooden lucky charm, and a lot to say about her mentor, Jeralt, who was also Byleth's father. He met his end a few weeks earlier in a car crash, though nobody was quite sure whether the crash killed him or if it was a sharp enough shard of glass lodged in his back. The other was a big, blonde boy about Ignatz's age wearing black sweatpants and a large, yellow T-shirt. He knew Ignatz from childhood and loved eating and muscle training. His parents also died in a car crash when he was young (though in all fairness, it wasn't much of an accident), so he and his little sister Maya lived in an apartment instead of their parents' house. Both of them spotted Ignatz and immediately made a beeline to his table, as he had yet to order.

"Hey, it's Ignatz! Never thought I'd see him again!" the large boy shouted.

"Quiet down, Raphael. There are other people here."

"Oh, sorry, Leonie." Raphael was quite a loud person, though there were louder people at the boarding school, such as Caspar von Bergliez, a classmate of Dorothea's. Raphael also wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was still good at reading other people's emotions. This wasn't surprising for someone who was usually upbeat, even though he was still hit hard by Byleth's death, as was Leonie. However, neither of them were hit as hard as Ignatz, due to the fact that Ignatz had a crush on his teacher, who wasn't even that much older than him or most of his other classmates.

The two of them decided to take a seat with him next to the window. Ares' Diner saw a lot of business, with Ignatz being a regular, but the seats were not unlike a school cafeteria, though there were still waiters and waitresses for the purpose of getting orders at all. Thankfully, unwanted company was rare here, primarily because most people had the decency to ask whether or not they could sit with people who occupied their tables. Obviously, not everyone followed this unwritten rule, but Leonie and Raphael did.

"Hey, Ignatz! You're looking kinda down," remarked Leonie. Ignatz looked up and to his right to see her and Raphael with smiling faces.

"Can we sit next to you?" Raphael asked.

"Oh, it's you. I guess you can sit with me," he said in a depressed tone. The two then took their seats, with Raphael sitting across from Leonie, who decided to sit next to Ignatz. It was more practical for Raphael to sit across from his two thinner classmates anyway.

"So, what seems to be the problem, Ignatz? Does Ms. Eisner's death still hit you hard?" asked Raphael.

"Yeah," Ignatz replied in his sheepish tone from before.

"You're not alone. It hit me really hard, too," said Leonie. "But that was 6 days ago. The funeral was yesterday, and by now, most of your classmates have gotten over it."

"But... but I..." Ignatz started to cry.

"Oh, was I too insensitive? I'm sorry," replied Leonie.

"I had a crush on her! It's not the same!" cried Ignatz. His sheepish tone was replaced with sobbing. "It's all I've been thinking about since she was killed!"

"I knew that. I didn't know how far it went, though," said Raphael.

Ignatz continued to cry for half a minute before his tears ran dry. He wiped his face with the napkins on the table, going under his glasses, which he couldn't see without. In the nick of time, right after his tears stopped and he started to sit back up, a waitress arrived at their table.

"Why, hello, Ignatz! It's nice to see you again! And it looks like you brought friends with you. What are their names?" the waitress asked. She knew Ignatz decently well, probably due to him being a regular before he attended Garreg Mach Boarding School.

"I'm Raphael Kirsten, and this lady is my friend, Leonie Pinelli. We're friends of Ignatz, like you said," replied Raphael. "Unfortunately, he's... not in the best mood right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Maybe some good food will cheer him up. What would you all like to order?" she replied.

"I'd like three Black Knight Burgers: one for Leonie, and two for me! And get Ignatz here some Cabbage and Herring Stew while we're at it," said Raphael to the waitress.

"Oh, and don't forget to give each of us a glass of water," Leonie chimed in.

"Sure thing," replied the waitress. "I'll be back in about half an hour. Enjoy yourselves!" She got up and left.

Enjoy ourselves, Leonie thought to herself. Surely Ignatz wasn't enjoying himself if all he was thinking about was the death of Professor Byleth. She knew from experience: when the professor's father was killed in his car accident, Leonie took a while to stop mourning because that was all she thought about for the next several days. But Ignatz was already feeling down about Byleth's death longer than Leonie was from Jeralt's death. Those words must have echoed through Raphael's head, too, because his next words broke the silence the three of them shared, which lasted for about three minutes:

"Hey, I've got an idea! How about we have a night out?"

"That's genius!" Leonie replied. "And let's take Ignatz with us! That should help him get his mind off of you-know-who."

Ignatz heard this, and, though his sadness didn't truly go away, he approved of the idea. He didn't want to stop thinking about Byleth yet, but he also didn't want to be sad anymore. Besides, Raphael and Leonie were already trusted friends. What could go wrong?

"I- I guess so," he said in his normal voice for once. He smiled for the first time since he heard that Byleth died, and he wasn't lying when he said that he was up for it.

"Great," said Leonie. "We've got to plan it out, though. Where should we go?"

There was no shortage of places to have fun in Fodlan, let alone Deirdru. Almost every night bustled with people having fun in all sorts of ways. People tended to party like they had no other chances to do so. The best part of the idea of a night out with Leonie and Raphael would truly take all night, considering how much energy they had in their bodies. Leonie was up for all-nighters of nothing but fun, no matter the day, and Raphael objected to almost nothing that anyone would consider fun. Ignatz, however, was not full of that much energy, but thankfully, he had enough vigor to last a night, his parents were laid-back enough to allow him to go out on his own and for as long as he wanted so long as he could return home in one piece, not go to places that were too sketchy, and not get in too much trouble, and he also liked to have fun before Byleth died, even if he did prefer painting or drawing at home. But this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he thought, so he decided to go with his friends instead.

"You can use my phone to look up places we could go tonight," said Raphael. He took out his phone and handed it to Leonie, who didn't have a phone because she was relatively poor, though she still knew how to use one thanks to having borrowed them in the past. She gladly borrowed it from Raphael and looked up what recreation spots would be open that night. And luckily for her, it seemed like every single recreational establishment would be open. The first spot she noticed was open was the local bowling alley and bar hybrid, but since none of them were of drinking age yet, it was just a bowling alley for them.

"It seems like the bowling alley will be open tonight! We should go there," said Leonie to her friends.

"That sounds like a good idea," replied Ignatz, who was still somewhat sad despite his mood being notably better than before. It would still take a lot to get him out of his gloom completely. Leonie was still scrolling through Raphael's phone to find other hangout spots for the three of them to occupy that night.

"Oh, the mall is open tonight! And so is the night club!" exclaimed Leonie. Ignatz was slowly becoming more and more excited. "We should go everywhere tonight!"

"That sounds like a plan! I've got the money, so we should be okay for tonight," said Raphael, who was just as excited, if not more, for the night out with his friends that ensued. He could hardly wait for any of it, and neither could Leonie. Ignatz was more patient, but even he was excited for what was to come. Six minutes later, after the three friends finished discussing their night out, the waitress arrived at their table, Black Knight Burgers, glasses of water, and stew on the tray she held.

"Here you go!" she exclaimed to Ignatz, Leonie, and Raphael. They took their food and drinks with joy (and in Ignatz's case, notable uneasiness).

"Thank you!" Raphael exclaimed to the waitress. "We're going to have a night out together, so we need all the energy we can get."

"That sounds like a lot of fun," replied the waitress. "Where are you going?"

"Well," Leonie started, "we're going to go to the mall for some fun, and then we're going to head to the bowling alley. Finally, we're going to the night club! And it's all happening tonight!" The more she spoke, the more impatient she felt to just get going to all of the places she mentioned to the waitress.

"I would love to go with you, but I need to keep working," the waitress replied. "I hope you three have a blast, though!"

"We sure will!" Raphael shouted once again, though not at the top of his lungs.

"Raphael, be quieter!" Leonie responded once again to Raphael.

"Whoops!" he said, much more quietly, but not whispering.

As Raphael and Leonie ate their burgers at higher speeds than normal, Ignatz ate his stew more slowly. Raphael was gluttonous by nature, and Leonie had a bigger stomach than a good chunk of people her age, so this was to be expected of them. Ignatz, meanwhile, got full more quickly than they did, so eating more slowly was his nature. However, he still ate more slowly than he normally did, no doubt due to the grief of losing his crush. Little did he, Raphael, or Leonie know what events would ensue.


	2. Mall Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first of three recreational stops, and in time, feelings will build up...

The sun began to set right when the three former classmates arrived at the mall in Deirdru. Leonie was the driver, so Ignatz had slept through the hour-long car ride to make sure he was invigorated for the night ahead- traffic was heavy, and there was no better opportunity for him (and Raphael) to catch a few Z's for their wild night with Leonie. By the time the tomboy found a parking space, the boys were all rested in advance, so they didn't have to worry too much about sleep deprivation. Leonie was just as excited for her wild night out with her friends, moreso than either of the boys, and given how Raphael was up for almost anything fun, that's saying a lot.

"Wake up, you two! We're here!" exclaimed Leonie as she parked her car. It was a hand-me-down that had a few notable scratches and spots of missing paint, but Leonie didn't like wasting anything that still could be used, car or otherwise. She was quite notorious for this back at Garreg Mach Boarding School, too: if there was one word to describe Leonie that any classmate of hers would bring up, it would probably be resourceful. Whether it was reusing plastic utensils or always using the recycling bin, Leonie was never a person to waste anything unless she absolutely had to.

Ignatz and Raphael were still decently asleep, but not too far in their minds to blank out Leonie's words, which awakened the two of them. The former was probably dreaming about seeing Byleth again, if his frown upon waking up was any indication. The latter, however, was probably just thinking about food or training, as usual, because he had the usual smile on his face when he got up. He let out a light yawn, having just awoken from a good nap in Leonie's car. After he got out of his front seat, Ignatz followed from his middle seat, which was right behind Leonie. She proceeded to exit her own car and lock it once the boys were out, and the three headed up to the mall together.

On the way there, Ignatz's head was tilted somewhat downward, no doubt out of mild sorrow. Surely Byleth wasn't totally out of his mind, the grief still fresh enough in his mind that nothing could occupy his thoughts for long enough without being ejected and replaced by his professor, whose passing still haunted him- he was definitely obsessed at this point. But he was still up for spending time with his friends, no matter how he was feeling at the moment. His gloom was also slightly alleviated by hearing the people around him, not saddled with sadness (to his knowledge), also heading to the mall for whatever reason they were going: work, recreation, shopping, and more. Ignatz could not be alone in the mall, especially when his friends accompanied him the whole way through.

The three of them opened the mall doors to see a majestic, colorful carousel on their left, with beautiful seats that resembled lions, deer, wolves, and even eagles. Perfect timing, too- Ignatz was almost starting to feel as down as he was at Ares' Diner.

"Hey, we should go on the carousel! It seems like fun!" suggested Raphael. Leonie and Ignatz agreed that a quick carousel ride would be worth every second, especially if it helped cheer Ignatz up. They took their spots in line, and that's when Leonie popped a question:

"Hey, Ignatz? Are you still feeling down?" she asked the green-haired artist.

"To be honest, I still am," he replied, in a somewhat gloomy tone. "Thanks for taking me here, though. I hope as much as you that I can cheer up here."

"That's good to hear," replied Leonie. "Is anything in particular bothering you?"

"Not that I haven't already told you about." Ignatz was feeling slightly better, but far from his best, which is where Leonie and Raphael wanted him to feel.

"Maybe I should ask you more about her. You know, just to understand you a bit more." Leonie was serious about getting Ignatz in his best mood as soon as she could. "For starters, where did your crush on her start?"

"That's- that's a... that's a good question," Ignatz stuttered a bit. He couldn't believe that Leonie was asking him about the professor, let alone where the crush began. Leonie wanted to get into Ignatz's head as much as she wanted to have fun that night, that was for sure. He wanted to dodge the question, but he knew that he couldn't do so for too long without attracting unwanted attention.

"You- you see, it began... when the year did. I never... had a love interest before," he continued, trying to beat around the bush. "My parents sent me off to Garreg Mach Boarding School despite the fact that I just wanted to be an artist, where I felt like I could exercise my passion. They wanted me to-"

"Hey! It's our turn to ride the carousel!" Raphael chimed in. They had reached the front of the line.

"Oh! I wasn't paying much attention to the line. I guess it's time to ride." Ignatz, Raphael, and Leonie hopped aboard the carousel and took seats on three deer-shaped seats. Once they took their seats and strapped themselves in, the ride began. As the carousel span, Raphael and Leonie took the time to listen to the happy music of the carousel, and so did Ignatz. However, his ride was more like a moment of self-reflection than anything else: he continued to reflect on Leonie's question. He thought to himself, "Where did my crush on the late professor begin?"

The carousel, like Ignatz's mind, just kept spinning for a while. As the seats went up and down, with music blaring from speakers on the ceiling of the carousel, Ignatz started to figure out how to answer Leonie's question. Of course, this wouldn't solve his gloom entirely, but it would definitely help him find out how to do so. He came up with his answer to her question once the carousel finished its course and stopped. Ignatz then walked up to Leonie when they got off the carousel and walked down to the food court with Raphael in tow.

"Hey, Leonie, I think I have the answer to your question now. Can we sit down for a second?"

"Sure," Leonie said. The three of them found a table and took their seats at a small table that could seat all three of them, one on each side. Raphael sat across from Leonie, knowing that Ignatz was going to engage in close conversation with her.

"Is this about what I asked you earlier?" Leonie asked.

"Yes, it is." Ignatz replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I asked because I thought you already had the answer," Leonie replied. "You started talking about it to me."

"I- I did..." Ignatz continued. "But I didn't recall everything. And I still don't." Ignatz was visibly having a small, internalized panic attack. He was never the best at talking to people, though he wasn't totally socially inept. "But I can try to tell you what I remember about... where my crush began."

"Please," said Leonie, eager to have at least some lead as to how to cheer Ignatz up, even a little. "Do tell."

"Indeed," Ignatz said in a relatively uneasy tone. The topic of Byleth was starting to tear into him quite a bit, but he endured in telling his story. "When I got to Garreg Mach Boarding School, I laid my eyes on her. She was... beautiful. She was like nothing I'd ever seen before. I was so, so glad she was my teacher. In fact, I... I tried to talk to her... multiple times. I- I can't tell you just how smitten I was."

"Anything else?" Leonie asked Ignatz.

"Well," Ignatz said to her, "I tried... to spend some time with her, too. I... got to know a bit about her." He was slowly getting more and more uneasy, even sadder, as he talked about his teacher. Ignatz wanted to talk about her as little as possible, for whenever he did bring her up, it just made him uneasy.

Leonie must have noticed his distress, as she followed his statement with a simple, "Okay, then. Let's go somewhere else in the mall." She was starting to get impatient with Ignatz as well.

"I agree," said Ignatz in a tone that was still somewhat down, but not as much as he was during the conversation. He still needed some time to get better, but he felt like he was still able to move around freely. He was getting stressed out from the talk with Leonie and wanted to have as much fun as she said that she and her friends would have. It wasn't much fun just talking to Leonie like this, especially when it was a topic that Ignatz found sensitive. Leonie also felt a bit of guilt over talking to Ignatz like this, and Raphael was also feeling somewhat stressed by seeing his friend Ignatz in his situation. Thus, all three decided to get out of their seats and walk down the halls of the mall, possibly finding a good place to hang out, do some shopping, or otherwise have fun.

The three friends went down the mall, passing shops that sold every kind of merchandise. But it was the massage station that caught Leonie's attention first. She wasn't a fashionista, but even she enjoyed getting a massage from time to time. Ignatz and Raphael followed her, and the latter paid for their massage. After their massage, the three of them spotted a relatively new area: the Laser Tag Arena. None of them had ever played laser tag before, as it was relatively new to Fodlan. Regardless of where it originated, all three were excited to try it out, so they mutually agreed to play a game of laser tag.

After listening to the rules and equipping their laser tag gear, the three of them traveled to the far corner of the arena together. It was a large arena with two levels: one elevated over the other, with ramps that let one rise or drop from one floor to another. The whole arena was also dark and loaded with walls for cover, perfect for those who wanted to hide. After the three of them reached their far corner, the game began. Ignatz took to the high floor, with Leonie behind him, and Raphael staying on the low level. He was running around, having the time of his life as he fired, even though he wasn't very good at aiming. Leonie and Ignatz, however, were doing phenomenally: they fired with incredible accuracy and shot at almost everyone, including each other and Raphael. Eventually, after firing for what seemed like the thousandth time, Leonie found herself alone in another corner of the arena, with no one else around her. She felt relatively safe... until someone started walking up to her, and that someone wasn't a trusted friend like Ignatz or Raphael.

"Hey, you, lady!" he called out, catching Leonie's attention. His deep voice creeped her out a bit as she looked behind her. The man was tall and lanky with sunglasses, muscular arms, and a mustache. His long sleeve shirt was tattered in some places, and his black hair made him look more threatening than someone in public should be. And it seemed like he wasn't about to let Leonie out of his sight.

"I'm gonna get you if it's the last thing I do, little lady!" There was a sense of lust in his voice, especially at the end of his threat.

"Gah!" Leonie cried out. Not much scared her, but this man was an exception, it seemed. He shot at her back with his laser gun, making her unable to fire for a few seconds. Just enough time to catch up to her without getting shot, even as she ran away, it seemed. However, Ignatz was right above them at the time, and he heard the man's voice when he barked at Leonie. Ignatz fired at the mysterious man, distracting him for a second, and Leonie escaped. The man looked up and saw Ignatz, whose improbable aiming scored him a point against the mysterious man. Leonie was impressed by what she witnessed, and she was more impressed by how Ignatz saved her from what could have been an unpleasant encounter.

"You'll pay for that, you scamp!" he shouted at Ignatz, scaring him off.

Almost immediately after the man shouted at Ignatz, he became vulnerable again, and was shot by Raphael. Almost immediately after the shot, the game ended, and Leonie was crowned the winner, with Ignatz in second. The mysterious man would have won if not for Ignatz, in fact. Raphael may have come in last, with his only hit being on the mysterious man, but he had fun. The three friends met up again afterwards outside of the Laser Tag Arena and it felt like Ignatz was starting to get over Byleth, though he was still far from being fully healed.

"That. Was. AMAZING!" Raphael shouted out. "I want to do that again someday!"

"So do I," replied Leonie. "But without a creep coming up behind me next time."

"You mean the guy I hit?" Raphael asked.

"Yes! That's the guy. You must have heard me lose my guard for a sec," Leonie said.

"I think I hit that guy, too," Ignatz replied.

"You did," Leonie replied. "He was pretty unsettling. Not much can scare me, but he sure caught me off guard."

"I see he got third place as well," Ignatz said to his friends. "And he was the only person Raphael hit the whole game!"

"Thanks for that," Raphael replied. "I'm not very good at this game, but I'd love to get better at it some day."

Raphael checked his phone to find that it was already 7:41 at night, and the sun had set completely by the time the laser tag match was over. The three friends were pretty much done with the mall at this point, and their next destination was the bowling alley. It was open that night, and all three of them had a soft spot for bowling. Leonie had only bowled once before in her life, but she loved the match she played. Raphael was also not very good at bowling, but he enjoyed it very much, having once bowled with Ignatz, who also wasn't very good. As such, all of them were excited to bowl again, especially with each other. Leonie then turned to Ignatz to speak a bit of her mind.

"Hey, Ignatz, thanks for the help during that match," she told him with utmost sincerity. Ignatz looked at her with what felt like stars in his eyes, and replied, "You're welcome." In his heart, he knew what he did was bigger than it felt. And he felt things not unlike what he felt for Byleth, but reciprocated this time. Ignatz wasn't fully distracted from her passing, but as he walked out of the mall and to Leonie's car with her and Raphael, this moment alone told him two things that he wouldn't soon forget:

Leonie cared about him.

And he cared about Leonie, too.


	3. Feelings in the Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bowling alley/bar is the next stop for the three friends. But it's also where feelings of all kinds start to intensify on multiple sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the whole story begins to pick up steam. Beware- the more triggering content is really going to begin here, and the stakes will get higher as well.

By the time Leonie, Ignatz, and Raphael arrived at the bowling alley, the sky above Deirdru was tinted a deep indigo, with no clouds in sight. The establishment was relatively large for a bowling alley, with a pair of large glass doors for all to open and close when they arrived. Ignatz was eager to bowl, but he didn't look like it: as he and his friends walked up to the alley doors, he was upright, but his expression was a faint smile, which isn't really what one would consider an excited face. Meanwhile, his friends sported much stronger smiles of genuine happiness, which couldn't be said of Ignatz at the moment. Regardless of how they looked at the time, the three of them were in for a blast.

After registering and paying at the front desk, they put on appropriately-sized bowling shoes and headed to an open lane near the bar on the left side of the alley. It was well-lit in almost every area, with large monitors above the pins where they could see their scores. The floor was well-waxed with colorful decorations that resembled confetti, and upbeat pop music was playing from every single speaker in the alley. It was the perfect place for a bit of sport, fun, or a hangout. Raphael picked out balls for himself and his friends, entered their data into the keyboard device on the left side of their lane, and the game began. Raphael was first, followed by Leonie, and then Ignatz.

"Watch THIS!" Raphael shouted to his friends, who took their seats as he ran up to the lane and threw his ball forward. The gutters were off, and so was Raphael's aim, though he threw his ball quickly enough to knock down three pins on the right side. As Raphael walked back to get his ball for his second throw, Leonie decided to take this opportunity to engage in a bit of conversation with Ignatz while she could. She knew she wouldn't have many chances to do so with him because they'd have to take turns bowling as well. It was the perfect chance to get into his head without wasting time, even if it was in short bursts compared to a longer conversation, like the one they had after the carousel.

"Hey, Ignatz. I'd like to talk to you for a bit as we wait for our turns," Leonie told the artist.

"I'm willing to talk to you any time, Leonie," Ignatz replied. He meant what he said, and he said what he meant. "But is this about... her? If so, please do so sparingly."

Even just alluding to Professor Byleth hurt his mood a notable amount, and it was apparent that Leonie noticed from both his tone of voice weakening and his head tipping down a bit. Leonie knew social queues decently well, and she was learning from experience with Ignatz that bringing up his lost crush would take a toll on him. But she had to do it in order to understand how he felt so that she could crack down on his gloom as much as she possibly could.

Raphael had already finished his second throw, hitting only one of the remaining pins. The pins reset and it was Leonie's turn to throw. She threw with impeccable aim, hitting all but one pin on her first throw. Ignatz stayed in his seat, watching Leonie and every move she took, as did Raphael. Both boys were impressed by her impressive skill, especially because of her inexperience with bowling. Unsurprisingly, her next throw was able to hit the stickler of a pin that she missed the first time around.

"That was amazing!" Raphael exclaimed. He envied Leonie's skill, even just a little.

"Thanks!" Leonie replied. "It's Captain Jeralt's technique. He taught me the first time I went out bowling." The captain was never the best at the sport, but Leonie's replication of his technique, combined with her great aim from practicing archery showed that she understood the sport very well. It was pretty simple at its core, and Leonie was a quick study when it came to physical activities. She took a seat, and Ignatz gulped a bit. It was his turn, and the subject of his deceased teacher crush still lingered in his mind after Leonie alluded to it. He walked up to the lane, aimed, and rolled his ball forward, though not much strength went into his throw, as evident by its slow speed. It was evident that he was distracted by the mere memory of Byleth. The ball curved as a result, and he only hit one pin out of ten- worse than Raphael.

"Wait, what?" Raphael asked his friend with a notably concerned tone.

"Sorry about my terrible throw," Ignatz replied. "I wasn't feeling focused enough."

"You still have another throw, Ignatz," Leonie chimed in. "It's not over."

"It's not over," Ignatz thought to himself. Perhaps these words had another meaning, especially from Leonie. Ignatz thought hard about it as he picked up his ball for another throw. He felt a bit more encouraged than he was with his first throw. He walked up to the lane again and threw once more. He hit four pins that time, which wasn't much, but it was an improvement over just one. Ignatz knew that he just did better than his first throw, but even this splash of satisfaction couldn't wash away all of the pain he felt on the inside. The thoughts of Byleth still lingered in his head, and they wouldn't get out anytime soon at this rate.

It was Raphael's turn again, and as such, another chance for Leonie to have a short heart-to heart with Ignatz. She knew she had to do this every time Raphael had a turn, as he provided long enough windows for Leonie to ask Ignatz a question each time, and with each question, she could learn a bit more about his true feelings about the professor who, even in death, was effectively holding his heart hostage. Leonie then popped her first question as Raphael walked up to the lane and threw with high force:

"What did you get to know about her?" she asked.

"Well," Ignatz replied in a shaky tone, "she loved teaching us. All of us. Even you."

"How did you find out?" she asked. Ignatz began to tremble a little.

"She... always had a smile on her face when she was in the room," Ignatz answered. "Each and every day, at Garreg Mach Boarding School, she..." Ignatz was starting to tear up a little bit.

"She?" Leonie replied. Raphael had already done his second throw, and it was Leonie's turn. 

"I don't exactly remember!" Ignatz cried out. He shed a couple tears, but not many. He lost his train of thought after he started to tear up, but when Leonie replied, it was gone.

"It's okay to forget sometimes, Ignatz," Leonie told him before he could tear up again.

"Hey, Leonie, it's your turn," Raphael whispered to Leonie.

"And speaking of forgetting, I forgot that I have to bowl!" Leonie joked.

Leonie went up to throw once more. Raphael took Leonie's seat as she threw her ball and knocked over seven pins down the middle. Raphael may have been bowling while Leonie and Ignatz were talking, but he still overheard every word they said. Knowing that being completely uninvolved would probably cause more harm than if he helped with Ignatz's situation, he decided to tell Ignatz something.

"Ignatz, I overheard that Leonie was talking to you as I was bowling. Can I give a bit of input?" he asked.

"Sure, I guess," Ignatz muttered.

"Well," Raphael replied, "I think it's important to know that you can always move on. Like when I lost my parents to their car crash. Took a while for me to swallow that."

"That... kinda helps." Ignatz wasn't hurt by Raphael's words, but it was clear that he didn't take them to heart yet. As he finished his words, Leonie managed to knock down one of the three pins she missed. It was Ignatz's turn again, and he noticed. He walked up and threw his ball similarly to how he did last time, knocking down five pins, with his next throw missing all of them. Ignatz was clearly still in a state of mild distress, but said distress was still far from over. Once he was done, it was Raphael's third turn. Ignatz took another seat next to Leonie as Raphael readied himself for more powerful throws.

Leonie knew that asking Ignatz again about the professor after having just done so and damaging some of his morale would only hurt her progress in the long run, so she decided to sidestep a bit with her next question to him. She knew she couldn't diverge too far from the topic of Ignatz's lost crush, so she decided to ask a more simple question this time.

"Ignatz," she asked, "how was your time alone in Garreg Mach Boarding School?"

"My... time alone?" Ignatz asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean your alone time. What did you do? Did anyone ever talk to you?" Leonie was taking the question away from the late professor, but she knew she had to return to it, so she felt like being able to segue back to the sensitive topic would have its benefits.

"Not- not really," Ignatz replied, with his voice trembling a bit. "I tended to hang out either alone or with Raphael, though I don't remember locking myself in my room. I do, however, remember painting a picture of... her... alone." The word 'her' was far more morose than anything he had said earlier. Leonie knew exactly what Ignatz was referring to, and that her instincts were working to some extent. Ignatz was feeling obsessed with his crush's death, and trying to divert the conversation in any direction could result in more openings for Leonie to understand Ignatz even more than she already was starting to.

By then, Raphael was done with his third turn, and it was Leonie's turn. She was as determined as ever to bowl, but she was somewhat distraught by what she was learning about Ignatz's current mindset, even though she had just gained a lead as to to how to learn why Ignatz was down for as long as he was. It was pyrrhic enough for Leonie to lose a bit of focus and only knock down five pins and then just one. Ignatz had his third turn up next, and his gloom was back thanks to having brought up Byleth himself, even though it wasn't by name. He threw his ball twice, hitting two pins both times. Afterwards, Raphael took his fourth turn, and Leonie made her next move on Ignatz.

"What was the painting like?" she asked Ignatz.

"Well," Ignatz hesitated a bit before continuing, "it was of the professor... and it was beautiful..." He was starting to grow increasingly unstable, little by little. "And I started it... when Captain Jeralt died. And it was supposed to be... a present. To her..." Ignatz notably didn't get much sadder when he mentioned Captain Jeralt's passing, especially compared to his mentions of the professor. This offended Leonie mildly, though not enough for her to object to his words. She knew Ignatz's feelings at the moment were more important than her own, and putting a mild offense over a lingering problem would be seen as disrespectful, especially to Ignatz.

Raphael had finished his turn, and so Leonie reflectively went up to the lane and threw once more. Six pins and then two, once again down the middle. Ignatz was up next, having healed a smidge from bringing up the painting. His throws were still distracted in nature, as evident by his score: three pins and then one, all on the left. Raphael began his fifth turn with the same attentiveness he had earlier. He knew he had to have fun but that hearing Ignatz out was equally as important. His improvement bowling was evident by his pin count rising compared to earlier: he hit eight pins the first time and then missed the second time. Leonie decided to take her second turn, and Raphael decided to have some input on Ignatz's mood.

"Ignatz, I hate to make you feel down, but I want to ask you a question," he told Ignatz, who was sitting with his head down.

"I won't stop you from asking," Ignatz replied.

"Is Leonie hurting you when she asks her questions?" he asked.

"Uh, not really," Ignatz said with a sense of weakness. Leonie heard this when she took her second throw, feeling encouraged despite Ignatz's tone: her strategy was working. She hit nine pins total this round, and Ignatz was up. He managed to hit six this time. Raphael then took his sixth turn, and Leonie asked her next question in kind.

"Did you finish your painting, Ignatz?" Leonie asked.

"N-n-no! I didn't finish! I threw it away when I heard she was killed!" Ignatz yelped. Leonie was starting to understand why Ignatz was down for so long- the puzzle was starting to come into shape. She felt incredibly accomplished at that moment, even if it was pyrrhic.

"I'm so sorry you never finished," she told him. "I would've loved to see it completed, too."

"It's- it's okay," he said, starting to tear up again. Leonie patted him on the back as Raphael walked back to the seats having finished his sixth turn- seven pins down total. He was starting to become a really good bowler in his own right, though he still had a lot of room for improvement. Leonie took her turn next and got a spare after four pins hit the first time, followed by Ignatz getting six pins down total once again. Raphael was up for the seventh time, and Leonie took the opportunity once more, but not to ask a question this time: she was ready to change up her strategy now that she was given a massive breakthrough of understanding Ignatz's psyche.

"Ignatz," she uttered to him, "I'm sorry if my questions were hitting you in all the wrong places. I'm just trying to understand you."

"It's okay. I... actually kind of... appreciate your efforts," Ignatz replied. He started feeling similar emotions to what he felt after the laser tag match atop his standard gloom. Here he was, talking to a girl who appreciated him enough to try to get into his mind, taking time out of her fun night out with her friends to read his feelings. Although Ignatz was secretly hurt a tinge each time Leonie made him think about his dead teacher once more, he knew what she intended to do was benevolent and he appreciated that. His would-be tears began to dry up before they left his eyes, and he felt more powerful than he ever did this entire game.

This increased sense of self-worth came to fruition when, after Leonie got another spare, Ignatz took his seventh turn and hit eight pins, feeling stronger than before. He didn't even gain any muscle mass, but his sheer determination was raised enough to bolster his results in bowling. Raphael took his eighth turn and hit eight pins as well, feeling as good as ever, especially after Leonie made her words heard. Leonie's next turn had her hit seven pins total, followed by Ignatz getting seven pins down total for his seventh turn. Raphael's ninth turn was a fruitful one for him, with nine pins down total, followed by Leonie, who hit eight total.

When it was Ignatz's turn, he took a deep breath before walking up to the lane with all the focus he had. His watchful eye centered exactly where he wanted to throw... and he threw his ball.

Strike.

All ten pins, knocked down in one go. Leonie had knocked down all of her pins before in this game, but all of those were spares. Ignatz got a strike before she did, impressing both her and Raphael. Neither of them could believe it for a second. He was knocking down so few pins before, distracted by his grief, no doubt enhanced by Leonie's well-intentioned questions. Ignatz didn't stop grieving about Byleth after his strike, but for that second, he was the happiest he was yet.

"That was pure grit!" Leonie exclaimed in sheer bewilderment. "Even I haven't gotten a strike yet."

"Look at the monitor!" Raphael exclaimed. On the screen was an animation of a bowling ball, dashing into a pin, zipping all over it from pretty much every angle, charged with what looked like electricity before it exploded and launched the pin off the screen, where the animated pin promptly blew up in a flashy diagonal explosion. Ignatz was invigorated for that moment, and that was how he wanted to feel, though his heart still ached for his professor. He felt like it was a shame that she could never see it, bringing back that grief to an extent. He was happier, but there was still a lot of work to be done if Leonie and Raphael wanted to relieve him completely, which is what they wanted.

Following that moment of excitement, Raphael took his tenth turn getting nine pins down. Leonie got eight pins down, and Ignatz finished the game with seven pins down total. The game was over, and Leonie was feeling thirsty, as were Ignatz and Raphael.

"Man, that was AWESOME!" Raphael shouted. "But all that bowling makes me thirsty. Let's get some water."

"But the snack bar is closed," Ignatz replied. "And the only other place to get water... is the bar."

Ignatz was right. The snack bar closed at 9 p.m., and it was 9:26 p.m. at the time. Since none of the three friends could drink alcohol yet, the bar was the only option for water unless they wanted to use the bathroom sink, but its water was off-limits for drinking, so their only option was to get some water from the bar. Leonie took it upon herself to get the water for herself and her friends. She was over 18 already, and it wasn't like the bar was going to be that dangerous... or so she thought.

Walking into the bar from an opening in the wall that housed the snack bar that could fit a door but didn't, Leonie was greeted by a gang of thugs in line to get booze, all with threatening tattoos with varying designs, gray leather jackets with chains, baggy leather pants, and biker helmets. Many of them were tall with stern-looking resting faces, but Leonie had heard of worse, so none of them scared her. She pulled up in the line and budged in front of one man who was next in line after a large, blue-eyed man wearing a large helmet that obscured his hair received his jug of beer. But Leonie didn't notice him at all, and she pulled up in front of the man who was behind him, having not noticed the line either.

"Hey, Mr. Barista! Can you please get me and my buddies a few glasses of water?" Leonie asked him.

"EY! Ya got serious guts showin' yer face near OUR gang!" The man had very little patience, and he wasn't about to let a spunky lady get in the way of him and his booze. His raspy voice wasn't enough to scare Leonie, unlike the man from the Laser Tag Arena. The man scowled at Leonie, who smugly grinned at him, knowing she was able to get her glasses of water regardless of where she was in line. The thug punched her, but Leonie blocked with her right arm.

"Nice try!" she exclaimed before getting socked right in the nose with the other arm with enough force to knock her down. She fell to the floor, breaking her fall before passing out from blood loss in her nose. The thud was loud enough for Raphael and Ignatz to hear. Their tough friend had gotten cocky and paid the price. It seemed like the dark-haired customer heard Leonie's voice as well, as evident by his next words:

"It's a lady... Time to do what I do best!" His voice was disturbing in tone- and Ignatz and Raphael noticed. They couldn't just stand there.

"Ignatz! Did you hear that?" Raphael asked, more concerned than he had been before.

"I- I did," Ignatz said in a scurried tone. Turning his head to witness Leonie on the ground, nose bleeding, he spotted the man from earlier, now facing towards them, though he didn't notice him or Raphael. In a panic, Ignatz thought up an idea.

"Raphael, I know what I gotta do," Ignatz told his large friend. He rushed to the men's bathroom, and Raphael followed, though he never entered the bathroom and instead hung out in front of it. The bathroom was right across from the bar, on the right side of the alley before the receptionist- convenient for both Ignatz and anyone who drank too much. Helping his case is that the bar had another opening not unlike the one Leonie walked into that led to the bar without a door. Ignatz quickly grabbed a roll of toilet paper from one of the men's stalls and got out of the bathroom as the muscular man walked up to Leonie and spread her legs apart. Putting his hand into his pants, he was so focused on what naughty things he wanted to do with Leonie that he didn't notice Ignatz rolling the toilet paper around his legs so that it would tie them up tightly enough to trip him if he tried to walk. It helps that Ignatz was short enough to crawl unnoticed by any of the other thugs, who were watching him prepare for his misdeeds.

As he prepared to take his step towards Leonie, he fell face first on the ground, busting his nose not unlike Leonie's. All of the thugs were so stunned that they just stood there for a while.

"Wah? Who did dat? Nobody beats Richard da Terrible!" one of the thugs called out in misbelief. Noticing the toilet paper on the man's legs, they looked down to see Ignatz making his slow, nervous escape. It seemed like he was going to see his beloved professor again. He nervously chuckled a bit as he crawled away. Raphael took notice and made a quick, but surprisingly wise, move:

"I told him to do it!" he called out.

The thugs' attention was diverted to Raphael, allowing Ignatz to escape and having no eyes on Leonie. Ignatz then rushed over to Leonie and dragged her backwards by the armpits. Ignatz wasn't that strong, but he could still drag Leonie backwards with him. She opened her eyes to see Ignatz looking at her upside down.

"Ig... natz?" she muttered.

"Yes, it's me," Ignatz replied. "I've got you out of trouble. You should be able to safely get up."

Leonie put her legs together and got up, her nose no longer bleeding. She reoriented herself and took a deep breath. Leonie was safe once again, feeling as grateful as ever for Ignatz: he saved her life, or at least it felt like it. Unfortunately, Raphael was in danger.

"HELP! They've got me!" Raphael cried out. He had held the thugs off for long enough that Ignatz could save Leonie. The two of them knew what they had to do: get back into the fight. So what if Leonie just took a big hit? Their other friend was in danger and they couldn't let him be pulverized.

As such, Leonie rushed into the bar to save Raphael, who was being held and punched in the face by multiple thugs in a circle. Leonie started by kicking the blonde thug who was holding Raphael's shoulders in his crotch as hard as she could. The thug let go of Raphael before keeling over in pain, allowing him to turn around and punch another brown-haired thug with a rushing blow that knocked him down, winding up in the back of the bar. Raphael's face was still bruised, but he managed to punch out the rest of the thugs, except for two who headed for Leonie instead. She took care of them by sloshing the now relatively stale water she ordered at their faces, blinding them before tripping them with a sweeping kick. Typically, Leonie preferred to fight from a distance, but she wasn't against close-quarters combat either.

With all the thugs down, Raphael reunited with Leonie, and they joined back up with an awe-struck Ignatz. The three of them just won a bar fight, and none of them could drink yet. The groans of the embarrassed thugs echoed throughout the bar as the three of them cheered over their victory. Their cheering was short-lived, as a red-haired thug who led the gang in the bar got up soon after.

"Urgh... How was dat possible?" he asked in sheer confusion. Surely he and his gang didn't lose a bar fight to people as young as these. But he was far from hostile in his tone. In fact, once he was reoriented, he walked up to the three friends with amicable intentions.

"Ey, fellas!" he exclaimed, catching all of them off guard. They knew he wasn't going to attack, so they decided to hear him out.

"Y'all have mah respect. Nobody's beaten mah gang before, let alone youngsters like y'all!" He laughed and the three friends smiled with him.

"We'll gladly take your surrender," Leonie smugly stated with her hands on her hips. "And we'll celebrate with a dance at the night club!"

"Da night club," the thug responded. "Have fun dere!" He gave a thumbs up to the three friends, who gave a thumbs up in return.

"We sure will have fun there," Leonie stated. "Oh, and by the way, boot that Richard guy from your gang. He was going to do unspeakable things to me."

"Richard da Terrible? Boot him from mah gang? If he's as terrible as ya say, I guess he ain't gonna be in mah gang no more. But ya beat us, so I'll follow yer order."

"Serves him right for trying to mess with one of my friends!" Raphael stated.

The three of them left the bowling alley with smiles on their faces, and the gang leader was compliant with what Leonie asked of him. He wasn't a good man, but he had a code of honor: Leonie and her friends beat him and his gang, so he held them in high regard as a result. It was 10:02 p.m. when the three friends left the alley, and all of them were ecstatic to dance themselves dizzy at the night club. It was, as the name implied, an incredibly fun place at night, and none of them had been to a night club in their lives. And while the fight did make Ignatz ignore Byleth's death for how long it lasted, some of the grief came back as he and his friends walked back to Leonie's car. They may not have had the best time at the bowling alley, but Ignatz and Leonie's bond started to truly take shape after Ignatz saved Leonie.

And in time, their bond would become so much more.


	4. Dancing in Tragedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night club is supposed to be a place where couples can dance their hearts out. So when a terrible fate befalls it, not only do Leonie and Ignatz get closer, but things become uglier for everyone involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the reason why the work is rated M: it features a sensitive topic and it's going to be a logical extreme for the work as a whole.

Ignatz, Raphael, and Leonie reached the night club at 11:11 p.m., with Ignatz and Raphael having gotten a bit of rest in Leonie's car. They had stopped for some fast food after the bowling alley incident, which made them feel a lot more awake than they admittedly should have been at the time. The night club itself was a single-story building with few windows, but it was still as well-lit as it could be. You could hear the music pretty clearly even when not in the building, which was a testament to the club's popularity: every night, the club had couples, friends, lovers, and even the occasional pair of mortal enemies from all walks of life dancing like they had no other chance to do so.

After Leonie parked her car, the three friends marched up to the night club doors. You had to be at least 13 to enter, and all of them were at least 17 years old at the time, so it wasn't an issue. It also wasn't a strip club and there was no casino, so it was safe enough for them to dance that night. It helps that the door to the club was locked before payment and that there were security cameras on the dance floor which were able to record anything that could be considered a violation of safety, so as a whole, the night club was a great place to pop in and spend a night. Raphael then paid for all three of them to enter the club for the rest of the night, which meant until 6:00 a.m.

Inside the night club was a massive dance floor with glowing tiles of all six major colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. High-energy pop music was blaring from every speaker, and it was clear the DJ was having as much fun as the dancers. Neon-colored tables and stools lined the rest of the club, and it seemed as if there may not be much room for more dancers on the floor. There was no disco ball, but there were a lot of spotlights all over the ceiling, and they all changed color. The whole scene could take the breath away from anyone who walked in for the first time, such as Leonie, Raphael, and especially Ignatz.

"Wow, this place is quite a doozy," Ignatz replied with a bit of shakiness in his voice. It was obvious that Byleth's death was not a topic that was going to leave his mind anytime soon, but it wasn't going to stop him from participating in an unforgettable night of dance, music, and especially friendship. He already committed to the night out and he wasn't going to let his friends down by being so bummed out that he couldn't dance. Ignatz wasn't the best dancer out there, but he had enough spirit to keep him moving for extended periods of time.

"It's quite the sight," Leonie said. "Captain Jeralt told me about his experience with night clubs. He met his wife, Sitri, at one!"

"Sure is," Raphael replied. "I think I could dance here forever!" He also wasn't a particularly good dancer, but he had all the enthusiasm that a dancer needs to have the time of their lives. He ran up to the floor, took his place near the center, and proceeded to start raising the roof. Leonie also approached the floor and she started to dance as well.

"Hey, Ignatz! Come to the floor!" Leonie called out to her friend. 

"Um, okay," Ignatz called back. He was feeling notably nervous as he shuffled up to the floor, no doubt thanks to his aforementioned internalized grief still materializing inside of him. It wasn't enough to stop him from dancing, though, and he decided to try to dance by doing the disco. Nobody else on the dance floor was doing it, but Ignatz performed the classic dance move, probably because he didn't know what else he was supposed to do. Ignatz's heart wasn't fully in his dance moves, but it didn't stop him from at least trying to dance his sorrow away.

Ignatz eventually tired of doing the disco and tried to withdraw, but Leonie caught him on the way out.

"Hey, Ignatz! Are you feeling lonely?" she asked. She had stopped dancing as well when she noticed Ignatz withdrawing.

"Yes," Ignatz muttered. "Even with all these people around me, I still miss her. I also don't think anyone would want to dance with me."

"If that's the case, I'll dance with you," Leonie told him.

"I guess I'll dance with you," Ignatz said back. In his heart, he knew Leonie was willing to dance with him because she cared about him. Why else would she try to talk to him about his struggles, even if it damaged his psyche? Even then, she had the decency to apologize to Ignatz when the time was right. The two of them then walked back to the floor and found a space to dance together. Ignatz and Leonie started with some improvised dance moves before Leonie took Ignatz's right hand with her right hand, spinning him a bit once she let go. She then proceeded to do some breakdancing when Ignatz reoriented himself. Being thrown with a spin made him kind of dizzy.

Raphael walked up to the two friends with a meat kebab in hand. "Nice moves, Ignatz! How are you doing?"

"We're having a lot of fun," Leonie replied. "What about you? More importantly, where'd you get the kebab?"

"There's a food stand in the club. They sell these things for a pretty cheap price. I already finished two of them. I could buy you two kebabs if you'd like," he offered.

"I'll pass," Ignatz replied. He wasn't as hungry as Raphael, and neither was Leonie. The two were very focused on their dancing, even though Ignatz's heart wasn't fully in his dance yet. His dance moves that followed included one where he took a lunge stance and circled one of his arms while the other touched his lunging leg and one where he squatted and reached down before putting one of his fists on his hip, doing snake-like motions with his other arm which slowly rose as he danced. Leonie caught wind of this move and thought it was pretty funny, letting out a chuckle. Ignatz noticed and chuckled back. However, he noticed that Leonie was looking at him with wider eyes than he had ever seen from her before.

The two of them continued dancing until the DJ called in and everyone on the floor was alerted to his voice. The music stopped in kind, too. The DJ was a young, short man no older than 25, with red eyes and cyan hair spiked in the back. He was clad in a black hoodie with pins all over. His headphones were red on the ears, with the rest of them black. He had a tattoo on his face that resembled a star, a pierced nose with a gold ring, and most importantly, a solid gold necklace with a powerful logo on it.

"Are y'all having fun?" he asked the crowd in his microphone. Their response was a massive "YEAH!" that almost everyone chimed in with. And very few of them were lying: tonight was one of the best nights that the club ever had, and that was no exaggeration. The DJ knew it, too, as he took the opportunity to call for a dance battle that he called 'The Great Deirdru Dance-Off', judged by the DJ himself. Raphael walked up to him.

"Hey, DJ! I'd like to participate in the dance-off!"

"Okay, then," the DJ replied.

"And maybe you could count my buddies Ignatz and Leonie in there too! I'll ask them if they want in."

Ignatz overheard Raphael. He wanted to believe that it was a joke. Ignatz wasn't a good dancer, but he didn't want to upset Raphael just as much as he didn't want to upset Leonie, and when the large blonde walked back to his friends to ask if they wanted to participate in the dance contest, he noticed Ignatz sweating a bit more than usual.

"Hey, I asked the DJ to enter the dance-off. I wanted to know if you wanted to participate, too!"

"I'd love to," Leonie replied. She was genuinely ready to participate in the dance-off with all of her heart.

"As- as am I," Ignatz stuttered.

"Are you sure, Ignatz? You don't look like your heart's in it," Raphael replied.

"No, no, I'm willing to participate," Ignatz told his friend. Raphael knew he meant what he said despite his tone and told the DJ that they were OK with joining. Ignatz and Leonie were the last 2 contestants of 16 to be put into the dance-off, and Raphael was the first contestant. His opponent was a familiar face: the waitress from Ares' Diner, wearing relatively tight clothes. Raphael noticed her face immediately and proceeded to ask her a question.

"Wait, I thought you said you had to work! What are you doing here?" he asked with a shocked tone.

"I love to dance! Why do you ask?" she replied in kind.

"Because we saw you at Ares' Diner! You served us our food! Remember?"

"No, I don't remember," she said. "But I think I've seen you before."

"I've seen you before, too. My name is Raphael."

"Raphael... Yes, I remember now! I didn't know you would wind up here. There's a lot of night clubs in Deirdru, so you could've easily been at any of them."

"I'm still confused as to why you're here at all," he asked. "You said you had to keep working. And Ares' Diner is usually packed."

"I only work until 9," she replied. "Work isn't all I do."

"Makes sense. Still surprised to see you here at all, though."

"As am I," she replied. "Now, shall we dance?"

Raphael laughed. It was on.

The peppy pop music began, and the two dancers had the center of the stage. The waitress started busting as many moves as she could, and Raphael was across from her, doing his best to try to dance as well as she was. Raphael was pumping his fists as he shuffled around, while the waitress span around and rolled her arms in a circle before doing a split and lifting herself with her arms. The match ended when the song finished, and the waitress reigned supreme. Raphael didn't mind, though.

"Good try, Raphael. But I'm the better dancer, and you know that," she replied in a somewhat snarky tome.

"You did really well," Raphael said back to her before returning to his friends in the crowd. A few more matches passes before it was Leonie's turn. She had to face a purple-haired lady in a glamorous, purple sparkly dress.

"Come on, sparkly! I'm gonna win this!" Leonie bragged.

The song began and Leonie started breakdancing while the graceful lady started twirling and doing all sorts of proper-lady-esque movements. The contrast between the two girls was apparent, and Leonie knew that she had the upper hand if everyone could see her more dynamic moves. She came out on top, and after a few more matches, there was one match left in the first round: Ignatz versus a snobbish-looking young man in a blue tuxedo. Ignatz knew he had incredibly tough competition, so in order to not look like a fool, which would damage his self-esteem atop his repressed grief, he had to give it his all.

The song began and the two boys began dancing. Ignatz used his awkward dance moves from earlier, but he started doing them with a much more confident face, which in and of itself helped his case a metric ton. His opponent was initially dancing with more prestige than Ignatz, but in time, he started to tire much more quickly, resulting in sloppier dance moves. Ignatz, meanwhile, kept dancing with his own style, and he didn't tire out as quickly, resulting in a better performance all around that scored him the victory.

"I did it! I did!" Ignatz exclaimed when it was announced that he won the round. His opponent withdrew into the crowd, grumbling about his loss. Following their dance battle, Ignatz decided to talk to his friends as the next few dance battles passed.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you to win that! I was sure that other guy had it in the bag," said Raphael.

"Thanks," Ignatz said nervously. He, too, was impressed by himself for a change. But it was Leonie that was most impressed with Ignatz's performance.

"My goodness, you were great out there!" she exclaimed. Leonie knew that she could have to face Ignatz at some point, considering that the brackets had them on the same side. Leonie didn't like losing, not one bit, so scoring an easy victory made her happy. In time, it was her turn, and when the music started, she eyed her next opponent: a young, acrobatic, pink-haired woman with long hair and tights, not unlike the waitress, who was itching to face Leonie. Leonie was itching to face her, too, and she showed all the signs of it.

The music began and the two started performing moves with footwork that was hard to follow. The two dancing ladies were neck and neck, and it could be anybody's match at that moment. Leonie was ready to win with a highly ambitious dance move that would easily score her victory, and when she had the space to do so, she prepared her feet to pull it off. But she wound up tripping over her own leg and ended up just losing balance like she was wobbling on a log. She lost as a result, which hurt her self-esteem with a heavy blow.

"Can I get a do-over?" she asked the DJ.

"Sorry, girl," the DJ exclaimed, "but what's done is done!"

"Ugh, fine," Leonie said, dejected by her loss.

"Hey, Leonie," Ignatz told her in response, "I think you did very well out there." He was looking her in the eyes with a wide smile on his face. Leonie knew that face was one of someone who cared. Meanwhile, the DJ's words, "what's done is done", echoed through Ignatz's head. He thought these words could be poetic in a sense, but it was no time to philosophize when he was almost up to dance against another opponent: this one being a young man with torn jeans, a black hat, brown hair, and a slick overcoat. Ignatz knew he meant business by his smirk and overall smug demeanor. When the music began, Ignatz's opponent started doing dance moves that prioritized showing off. Ignatz, however, started doing improvised dance moves that showed his improvement in dancing. These moves may not have been the flashiest, but they were enough to score him another win. His opponent then entered the crowd feeling a bit down but not dejected.

"That kid with the green hair looks like a real challenger!" the DJ shouted. Ignatz knew he had a thing for dancing now that he was starting to do better than he had expected. Raphael and Leonie applauded his dance moves and his improvement. Ignatz was as impressed as he was, but Leonie was even more impressed- he was able to go farther than she did. Leonie envied him for that second, but she knew why she lost and all she could do now is root for Ignatz with Raphael. A few matches passed before Ignatz went up again, this time against Leonie's previous opponent. She was fired up to face him, and Ignatz was nervous as a result. She beat Leonie, so how would Ignatz have any chance?

When the music began, Ignatz started doing his moves from the previous round while his opponent repeated her previous moves. Ignatz then started doing his moves from round 1, which were fresher as a result of time away from them. They also were much smoother than they were in round 1 due to Ignatz being more focused, and it seems like the DJ noticed, because he won that round, too.

"Hah! I guess I've been avenged!" Leonie called out. She was so grateful that her competitor was no longer in the tournament, but Ignatz was more and more nervous. He saw how skilled his competition was after his own matches, so he knew he couldn't hold back if he wanted to win. The competitive spirit burned inside of Ignatz in a way he hadn't expected at all, and he was starting to think about how he wanted Byleth to be around to see this. Thus, he became notably more somber, though he was still ready to dance.

Soon, it would be the final match- Ignatz had to face a man with shades, chains, a tank top, and curled hair. He wasn't threatening or even cruel, but he was someone Ignatz knew he had very little chance to beat, especially when he started to reflect on himself right beforehand. Come the dance battle, his moves were slower than in every previous round, concerning Raphael and Leonie. Ignatz's opponent was rocking the floor, though, and he seemed to be too far in the lead to have Ignatz even remotely stand a chance. But Ignatz kept going, and his moves started speeding up, and the focus went from his opponent to him, catching him off guard. Ignatz wasn't a natural at dancing, but he was doing his best, and his best was starting to get even better.

Once the last song ended, the two dancers were all tuckered out. The DJ then got out his microphone to announce the winner. Ignatz's heart pounded so heavily that it felt as if it was going to burst. What felt initially like a curb stomp felt like anyone's game now. His opponent was much more confident, especially when he noticed Ignatz sweating heavily. Raphael and Leonie braced themselves for disappointment when the DJ made his next announcement.

"Girls and dudes! The winner of tonight's Great Deirdru Dance-Off is... Ignatz Victor!"

Ignatz almost fainted.

"I actually won! I WON!" he shouted. Ignatz was the happiest he'd ever been all night. Raphael and Leonie cheered along with him, and everyone clapped for Ignatz as he looked around him, seeing so many smiles all around him. A newcomer to dancing like Ignatz would usually be dead weight in a dance-off, but he won anyways. Leonie was more impressed than she'd ever been with Ignatz, as was Raphael. They felt as lucky as Ignatz to be his friend.

And then someone knocked at the door of the night club.

"Uh, somebody's at the door," Ignatz's second opponent stated. "And it looks like he really wants in." Having already passed midnight, it was pouring outside at that point, and the man outside the club appeared incredibly grumpy, likely as a result of being soaked. The flashy competitor then walked up to the door and opened it in an act of altruism. He was greeted, however, not by any words of appreciation, but by a gunshot through the forehead that traveled all the way to the edge of the dance floor closest to the entrance. The man fell backwards with a hole in his head, blood filling the hole and staining the entrance of the night club, brain matter included.

The man who fired was tall and lanky with muscular arms and a mustache. His pitch-black hair was shaggy and soaked, his shirt was tattered, and his blue eyes seemed to stare right into the DJ's eyes. Leonie saw the man and put two and two together: the black hair, the blue eyes, the sinister build. This was the man from the Laser Tag Arena that creeped on her, as well as the man who tried to assault her in the bar at the bowling alley. They weren't separate people at all: they were one and the same. And the man's name was Richard the Terrible. Ignatz and Raphael also vaguely recognized the man, but they didn't see the full connection immediately like Leonie did.

"I've come to make business with a fine ginger lady, not some flashy-ass fool," Richard grumbled. "And I think she's right... here." He pointed at Leonie, who was stunned in the utter silence of the night club. The DJ even stopped the music abruptly to avoid giving unwanted attention.

"Me?" Leonie said, trying to sound innocent. Richard then walked up to her, soaking his feet in the flashy man's blood.

"Yes, you! You and that scamp you call a friend. The one who tied me up at the bar, that is," Richard threatened. Ignatz knew he was referring to him, and thus he hid behind Raphael, who also feared for his life.

"What do you want from me?" Leonie asked in a tone that sounded legitimately scared, which was rare for her.

"I want..." he continued in his deep voice, "you."

"Well, why do you want me? More importantly, how did I know I was here?" Leonie asked.

"I overheard you say you were going to a night club after you pulverized that pathetic gang," Richard replied. "so I searched every night club in Deirdru and found you in none of them, until now."

Leonie gulped and her heart sank. She let out one too many words at the bowling alley. She indirectly killed a man and endangered many other people.

"What's more," Richard threateningly grumbled, "you got me revoked from that stupid gang I made the mistake of joining. So I killed every last one of them. All. Eleven. Of. Them."

Leonie's heart sank even further. She indirectly killed not just one person, not even two, but twelve. This included someone who was legitimately nice to her after just starting to respect her and her friends. She finally felt the grief Ignatz felt at his wort, even if it came from guilt and not grief. She let one too many words slip and other people paid the price. And now here she was, vulnerable, in a room full of people who may also be victims of her negligence. Leonie didn't look it, but she was broken.

"And I think I'm going to kill you and your friends for messing with me. Just like that pathetic teacher from that worthless boarding school," he continued before pulling out his gun.

Ignatz's heart dropped even further than it ever had. He was in the room with Byleth's killer. He couldn't escape her death at all, even when he tried his hardest to focus on the positives. His troubles had a source, and Leonie's newborn problems were intertwined. They had a common enemy, and both of them feared him equally. The two of them knew Richard the Terrible lived up to his name, but they never knew what he was capable of, let alone that he'd grow a vendetta against them. Richard then reloaded as the three friends ran to their left to use the emergency exit, but Richard wasted no time in firing.

The second victim of his massacre was an innocent woman who didn't participate in the dance-off, but she did dance decently well. Having been shot through the heart, she fell forward and her blood began to spill out of her chest and onto the dance floor. Her death was followed by the fatal shooting of Ignatz's first opponent, who also tried to run to the bathroom. His blood poured out of his head after being shot in the back of the mouth, staining the floor in the process. Leonie, Ignatz, and Raphael, however, managed to get to the emergency exit in time, but not before Richard fired... though he was out of ammo.

"Oh, I'll still get you," he threatened.


	5. Reflection and Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three friends' night of ups, downs, and all around fun concludes, but not in the way they'd expect it to.

Ignatz, Raphael, and Leonie found themselves outside of the night club. It was 1:21 at night The rain had stopped by the time Richard took his second shot, but it was still pretty foul outside. They were smack dab in the middle of a long, dark, thin, graffiti-coated alley lined with gutters full of cigarette butts, broken bottles, and other garbage. These were far more common in Enbarr, but they weren't unheard of in Deirdru either. Richard then used the emergency exit to catch up with them. The three friends then rushed farther into the darker part of the alley.

"I won't stop until I've killed you," Richard growled as he made chase. He could see pretty well, and while he was initially from Enbarr, he had escaped to Deirdru to avoid capture. It had been long enough since he found himself in Deirdru that he knew the city's layout decently well- he had already taken refuge in the alleys of Deirdru before, masquerading as a homeless migrant to avoid raising too much suspicion, an act he had practically perfected in Enbarr. However, Richard wasn't exactly homeless, as he had managed to make enough money in Enbarr through crime to acquire hotel rooms for at least two months before he could feasibly create a false identity and return to Enbarr, unpunishable for his crimes as Richard the Terrible.

When Richard exited the night club, he took some time to reload his gun with the rest of his ammo. He had three bullets: one for each victim. The three friends didn't have much time to catch their breaths, especially in their current situation- Richard could easily catch up to them and kill them all. They felt somewhat lucky that he ran out of ammo at the night club, and Leonie in particular felt somewhat relieved that she wouldn't be responsible for any more deaths in the night club now that Richard's eyes were on her and her friends and no one else. She then looked down on the ground while she could to find an empty but still intact bottle of wine. Some sap had probably tossed it here after a bender, and Leonie knew that she had to be resourceful if she wanted to survive.

"Why are you picking that up? It's not going to do anything against bullets like his," Ignatz worriedly asked Leonie.

"It's still usable," Leonie told Ignatz, "so I want to salvage it. Maybe you could hold it for me so I could pick up more things like it if I have the chance."

"I don't think you'll have that chance," Ignatz told her. And he was right, as Richard began charging towards them as fast as he could once he spotted them in the dark of the alley. The three friends, now feeling somewhat rested, decided to do the only thing that could save their lives in that moment: run as fast as they could. Richard only had three more bullets, so he wanted to conserve them until he could hit them for sure, due to his limited ammunition and his gun not having a lot of range: it was pretty old and busted and didn't fire very far as a result. There was no way he would let them escape, and he wanted to ensure that all three of them would be dead by the time the sun rose.

The three of them continued running away from Richard for a while. Wine bottle in hand, Ignatz eventually spotted a skeletal staircase in the distance on his left. It led to the roof of one of the buildings in the alley, and in that moment, he devised an idea that he thought would save all of their lives.

"Listen up," Ignatz whispered to his friends as he ran, "I have an idea."

"What's on your mind?" Raphael asked his friend.

"Well," Ignatz replied in a hurry, "do you see that staircase?"

"Yeah," Raphael told him, "why?"

"Simply put," Ignatz whispered more quickly than usual so as to make sure Richard heard as little of it as possible, "I'm going to run up that staircase and drop my wine bottle on his head. But in order to do that, we need to split up. I'll head upstairs and you and Leonie will try to keep him still. All you need to do is keep running until I reach the roof, then run back towards him and go from there."

"Seems simple enough," Raphael replied. He wasn't good at planning himself, but he was still able to go along with what other people wanted him to do. Leonie overheard Ignatz's whispers and agreed with Ignatz's idea as well, knowing it was an all-or-nothing gambit that determined whether they could live another day. The three friends then continued running to avoid Richard, but then they closed in on the staircase. Ignatz could finally put his plan into action.

"Hey, Richard," Ignatz shouted, "you aren't going to catch me or my friends anytime soon!" This caught Richard's attention, and it allowed Raphael and Leonie to run farther down the alley.

"If you insist," Richard replied angrily, "I think I'll kill you first, scamp! You did the worst to me, so killing you will satisfy me the most."

Ignatz then scurried to the staircase, knowing full well that he put his life in critical danger. The staircase was very vertical in nature, and that meant it had a lot of flat surfaces for people to climb if they wanted to reach the roof. Ignatz ran up the first flight with ease, and when he reached the second, Richard had caught up to the staircase, so he aimed upwards and fired at Ignatz.

Clink.

The bullet had collided with the metal that composed the staircase as opposed to Ignatz's body, falling almost straight down like a bird that crashed into a window at full speed. Richard hadn't missed by that much, either, so this naturally shocked him like nothing ever had before. He was so unimaginably furious by his missed shot that he stopped for a while while Ignatz continued to run up floor after floor of stairs, still holding his wine bottle. Leonie and Raphael were far enough away that they were safe from Richard's shots from where he was at the moment, but not too far away: they could see Ignatz running up the stairs and they spotted him at the roof of the building the staircase was along. The roof was flat, so he wasn't hard to spot either.

Leonie then looked down at the gutter to see if she could find anything useful. She eventually decided to pick up another intact glass bottle before handing it to Raphael, thinking he may have some use for it. She and Raphael had seen how the metal staircase had blocked a shot from Richard's gun, so they ran in a way that would have them behind the staircase if you looked from Richard's angle. Richard took notice but didn't fire to conserve his shots. Firing from behind cover was also a no-go because the metal that he could take cover behind could also block his shots, no doubt thanks to its purpose of blocking anyone from going under the staircase.

When the two of them started to close in on Richard, they split up, with the more nimble Leonie running towards Richard at an angle rather than Raphael continuing to go straight. It was quiet outside at that point, with Leonie's and Raphael's footsteps being some of the only things that could even remotely be heard. Richard took aim at Leonie, and as he prepared to fire, Raphael took his bottle and smashed it against the wall, shouting at the top of his lungs, catching Richard off guard. Richard still fired, but due to the sheer shock of the loud noise in the quiet area, he fired at the metal staircase instead of Leonie. This allowed her to move in and pin Richard to the wall.

"Wha-?" Richard called out in disbelief. Nobody had caught him off guard before, and Leonie was stronger than she looked. He still held on tight to his gun but didn't fire. Raphael heard the killer's shout and knew his improvised tactic worked. What would normally kill him in any skirmish somehow worked here, and while it didn't make him any better at planning, it did fill him with some sense of satisfaction knowing he was instrumental to catching Richard off guard.

"Now! Ignatz!" he shouted towards Ignatz. "Drop the bottle!

On the roof, Ignatz wearily looked down as he moved towards Richard and Leonie. He only had one chance and Richard could easily dodge the bottle if he tried hard enough to escape, and he saw that Leonie was struggling to keep him pinned to the wall. There was also the possibility that he could hit Leonie instead, which would make things worse for him than if he missed. But he didn't want to risk too much, so he thought of another idea.

"Leonie! Let go!" he called down, clearly concerned for his friend.

"Why? Are you trying to kill me?" Leonie objected. She didn't know what Ignatz was going to pull.

"Just let go! I'm gonna drop the bottle! I don't want to hit you!"

"Okay, fine," Leonie called upwards, letting go of Richard. He was no longer pinned against the wall, and Ignatz dropped the bottle once she begrudgingly complied with Ignatz's command. The bottle started plummeting downwards, bottom-first, towards the ground after he let go. Its clear, green body seemed to blur as it fell as if the air wasn't resisting at all. And as it dropped, Richard shoved Leonie towards the other side of the alley, and he aimed his gun once more toward the ginger tomboy, lifting his finger to place it on the trigger.

The bottle landed clean on Richard's head, shattering into at least 100 pieces, some of which were now lodged in his cranium, which began to bleed. Richard was disoriented by the sudden impact, with the blood loss making him lose his senses as he slowly collapsed, dropping his gun without firing. It still had one bullet left as well. Leonie got up and saw her enemy on the ground, bleeding profusely from what looked like his hair, though she knew it came from his head instead of his hair. She knew what she had to do.

Leonie then picked up Richard's gun. It still had one bullet left, and adrenaline surged through her body. She was in a position of power, and Richard had done too much wrong for him to be spared. He killed three people in the night club, which Leonie had unknowingly led him to, and although she only saw one die, it would still haunt her forever. He killed the gang at the bar, which consisted of people she had beaten up, sure, but their leader, who lost his life to this monster, had just given her a hefty dose of respect. But most importantly, he killed Byleth, whose death sent her, Raphael, and especially Ignatz on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Leonie then walked up to Richard, who was still struggling to get up. It was cathartic to see him suffer after he made Ignatz suffer through his actions, and it was about time to make him pay. She aimed her gun at the back of Richard's head, ready to do to him what he had done to many other people.

"I'll keep it simple!" she shouted.

She shot, and Richard keeled over instantly with no sign of him getting up in sight. He was dead. Ignatz and Raphael saw the kill with their own eyes. It felt incredibly relieving, albeit somewhat pyrrhic, for Ignatz to see this awful person who caused his despair finally be offed by someone he cared about. Raphael was just happy to know he never had to see this awful person again. And Leonie found it so satisfying to kill someone whose actions, combined with Leonie saying too much, killed people who should otherwise have been alive. Ignatz hurried down the staircase to see Richard's body bleeding out from his head, and Raphael rejoined with Leonie afterward.

"Well, that was quite the experience," Raphael stated. "Let's get out of here before someone sees us. We don't want anyone to get the wrong idea."

"Agreed. And I'm getting kinda tired," Leonie said. "Also, I'd like to talk to you about something, Ignatz. And I want it to be somewhere appropriate. Let's head somewhere more scenic."

They headed to Leonie's car, and she drove them to an ice cream parlor near the water. There were long, wooden benches nearby, and the three friends took a seat on one of them, with Ignatz between his two friends.

"Leonie? You asked to talk to me about something," Ignatz asked. "What's so important that you wanted to bring me here for?"

"Two things," Leonie replied. "First, I need to tell you that... I think I feel how you feel."

"Wait, really?" Ignatz replied. "How- how so?"

"Well," Leonie said in a tone that wasn't very upbeat, "I think I know the grief you feel now. That massacre at the night club... can be traced back to me. I doubt I'll ever get over it."

"Actually," Ignatz replied, "I feel like the professor is behind me. I was so focused on... him... that I forgot all about her. And I think I'm over it."

Leonie's heart jumped. She could hardly believe it. And Ignatz wasn't lying at all. It took a slight toll on his mentality, but his grieving towards Byleth, which used to be all he was able to think about, was finally over. Sure, she now had something to grieve about, which would no doubt last longer than Ignatz's grief, but she knew that she wasn't alone. And Ignatz knew it as well. A small part of his may still have missed his professor, but he knew that he was no longer the only one to feel sorrow like he did, which made him feel better with no sign of returning to his gloomy demeanor from the beginning of the night in sight.

"Yes! I'm glad this whole night out thing worked!" she exclaimed.

"I had fun, too," Raphael told her. "You can always let me in if you want to do this again."

"And I loved it, too," Ignatz replied.

"Oh, and speaking of love," Leonie remembered, "I think I love you, Ignatz."

Ignatz could hardly believe this. His heart jumped. He and Leonie were just out of a bloody skirmish, and she was telling him that she loved her. Sure, he knew that she cared about him, and that he cared about her, but love? Was this for real?

"Are you being serious?" Ignatz asked in a surprised tone.

"Of course I am!" Leonie responded. "And it's not just because you helped save me multiple times. I'm also genuinely impressed by you."

"Really?" Ignatz replied in shock. "Do tell."

"Well," Leonie told him, "remember the dance off? I didn't win that. You did. And when you got that strike in bowling. I didn't get one that whole match."

"Neither did I," Raphael chimed in. "That was you!"

Ignatz was feeling better than he ever did the whole night. He wasn't in as much attention as he was during any of their fun times, but he knew that he was the center of attention, even for just this moment. And now that he knew that Leonie truly loved him, he looked her in the eyes, complete with the same stars in his own eyes that he had after the laser tag match.

"Actually, Leonie," he started to stutter, "I- I love you, too."

Ignatz scooted closer to Leonie and hugged her, and she hugged him back. Their bond had just reached its peak, and it was sure to get tighter as time went on. The sun started to rise over the newly created couple, almost symbolically. The long night was almost over, and they felt as if it should conclude with the happiest ending possible. Raphael knew this was a good note to finish a night out on, and he decided that he wanted in on the joy that the two new lovebirds were having, so he pulled out his phone.

"Hey, do you two mind if I take a picture with you?" he asked.

"Not at all," Ignatz replied, still in Leonie's loving embrace.

"Of course not," Leonie replied. "In fact, you can join in our picture, too."

"Great!" Raphael said, laughing as he aimed his phone to take a selfie with his two best friends. Once the picture was taken, the of them headed back to Leonie's car so that she could take them all home. Raphael looked at the picture he took with a massive smile on his face. He just witnessed his two best friends enter a relationship, which was a first for both of them. Ignatz may not have ended up with his beloved professor, but he did end up with someone who legitimately cared about him, and that was what mattered. And Raphael knew that these were friends he was proud to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my first fanfiction, with a lot more to come.
> 
> I really wanted to contribute to a massive fanfiction base here, and FE3H is (at the time I write this) my favorite game of all time. I planned most of the story out in my head for a while without writing anything down beforehand, so finishing it at all feels pretty surreal. There were a lot of changes I made between thinking it up and writing it out, too.
> 
> Overall, this was a blast to write, even if it took me a lot of time to do so. And once again, thank you.


End file.
